I am trying to sell some PSA cards for cash on Virbank City Facebook.
I’m noticing a common trend. Local people will say ‘I’ll buy the card, don’t sell it to anyone else I’ll show up tomorrow with CASH’ and then there is always some sort of complication.
Ranging from
-Just ignoring messages because you changed your mind
-" I know we had a deal for 1000, but now I want the card for 900 because I think its worth 900’ (after holding the card for this guy and not selling to anyone else)
’ The transmission on my car blew out and I can’t afford the card’
"I was gonna split the the ownership of the card with my buddy but he backed out and I cant afford it alone’
Etc.
It seems like the vast majority of cash buyers on Facebook are full of crap.
From now on, I’m gonna tell people ‘first come first serve’ if they try to tell me they’re picking up the card tomorrow or even in 2 hours.
I realize that you guys are smarter than me and probably are already doing this, but I thought I should warn people that are new to facebook how it works.
I actually think this is a scam of some sort. They agree to buy the card, wait a day or two, see if the price went up, if the price went up, they buy the card. If I didn’t go up, ‘their transmission broke sorry’
The market prices on the cards I’m selling change daily so there’s a compelling reason for people to do this shady stuff.
I’ve bought a few times from Virbank without any issues but the amount of uninformed, sketchy people there is staggering. I would never try to sell anything there. It’s unfortunate because MTG has dozens of Facebook buy/sell/trade groups and they run super smoothly. I’ve sold thousands of cards/boxes in MTG groups with zero issues, ever. But for whatever reason, Facebook just isn’t right platform for a Pokemon marketplace.
Even “reputable” people on Facebook aren’t free from their issues. I’ve been bitten by holding five figures of items for a person who was even on the “5 star list” (lol). If you continue to do business on FB, I recommend joining the Trade Feedback Facebook page and looking up the name of the person you’re dealing with there before going further on any future deal.
Why would you even consider holding cards for someone? Just say “sorry, I don’t hold cards – let me know when you’re ready to buy.” Anyone ‘reserving’ a card they can’t currently afford so they can pay later is way overextending.
Well if someone can afford something and promises to show up at your doorstep with cash in two hours it’s not unreasonable to hold the card for them is it?
I’ve bought plenty of good deals where like 5 people spammed the seller trying to buy it but because I was first the one they sold it to me. So I try to extend that courtesy to anyone that tries to buy computer parts from me. But people that trade/sell/buy pokemon cards are not like people that deal with networking equipment, I’m sorry to say!
People that sell, buy, deal in enterprise computer equipment are 99% nice, trustworthy people and if the guy says he is gonna pay you in 2 hours, you’re getting paid
50% of People that deal in pokemon stuff are out to get you somehow, ‘buying’ stuff and only paying for it if prices go up, etc
I am new to buying and trading pokemon but I am learning that is a different ballgame
That’s different, though, because in that instance the person actually has the money. Someone asking you to hold a Pokemon card is doing that because they don’t have the money yet.
I don’t think people are out to get you; I think it’s just that people are overextending so much in this market. People are spending money they don’t have because they’re going to immediately sell the card. Collectors don’t do that – flippers do that. A lot of the market is composed of flippers right now and that’s who you’re dealing with. You’d experience the same in any manic market. The market will eventually cool down.
Over time, you’ll learn how to work optimally within them and adjust your use to suit your strategy.
The opportunities are different. If you feel that a certain avenue isn’t working out for you, definitely feel out other avenues and see what works with your style.
I never understood why people hated on FB groups until I tried selling a few things myself recently. Oh my GOD the amount of people that just waste your time or start arguments with you after THEY contact you is just ridiculous
I’ve literally only had TWO successful transactions in the past few months. That’s it lmao
The only way I sell anything on virbank anymore is through claim sales. Everything else I’ve tried has just been a huge time waste as the seller. I will say I’ve gotten some pretty good deals buying through FB though.
Exactly this. I got my Master’s Key through FB, and I’ve scored plenty of deals through social media. People who just do nothing but bash FB and IG are missing the point. Sure you can pay more on eBay or you may have connections and other avenues that are exclusive to you, but social media is just another option.
In my case I didn’t need the money right away and I thought of it as a nice thing I could do for a collector. The person in question has a small Youtube channel, is in the military, and was on the trade feedback group’s “5 star” list. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and he showed me a pic of his 5 other wotc boxes and said he was just missing mine (I was selling a Fossil and a Jungle box). But yeah I’ve definitely learned my lesson to not be so blindly trusting after that experience.
